Alfa will be getting at least the Giulia, a giulia platform (which is a cutting-edge, scalable rwd platform and architecture) D-sporty-suv, a rwd giulietta hatch, a larger e-segment sports sedan and a Giulietta or giulia Coupe and/or Spider, by 2017/2018. With a wide powertrain range, including some (mild?) hybrids, all fast-enough or better.

Although, depending on how the European and esp the American market recieve the first 2-3 models, marchionne says he is prepared to slow-down or even pare-down the all-new range, in order to not waste capital. He said just 3 days ago that the slowdown in china for luxury car imports makes China less of a beneficial factor in Alfa Romeo's new-model launch sequence/set-of-offerings, and that therefore FCA will be focussing on europe and the usa with these new german-trio-combatting models.

Chances of doing-well in europe are high, imo, but much less so in the US, at least initially.

Note that a lot of this rwd new platform, engines etc tech will be used for the upcoming rwd Dodge performance/musclecars (American style), some of which have already been shown to american dealers in las vegas recently.

Sadly, our government's failure and inability to do a proper FTA deal with the EU (with which we have excellent compatibility of comparative trade advantages, unlike with the US), largely due to the Indian automakers' lobby though there are other issues (eg., pharma patents, food safety standards etc)

means that European luxury and sporty car and bike direct-imports will work out too expensive, thereby giving the german trio with local assembly operations a stranglehold on the fast growing and soon-t-be big luxury car market, foreseeably.

And so, we in India are fated to not get these great new, characterful Italian sporty cars at great prices. Tariffs work out to something like 100 to 140%, i believe, after all?

Which is why FCA will, it seems, be a JEEP-centric assembler and manufacturer in India over the next many years, alongwith more-mass-market FIATs.

Still, given that the global plan is to have JEEP dealerships also be the ones for the new Alfa-s, hopefully we'll still see the brand being seeded here (not before 2018), and growing slowly and steadily, just like jaguar and recently Volvo are managing to do in Inda, somewhat.

@prabhjot Considering the numbers that the German trio sells in India, it might not be a bad idea to start assembling some of these models in India. In my world (of course I can be wrong), speed is of the essence. Also if you have upmarket models that are respectable, there is an impact that flows down to the more mass market goods leading to increased sales.

I have been saying this, without any real idea of the actual financial numbers though, admittedly: FCA must really really look hard at making India an export (not just of engines, transmissions and other components, as currently) hub FIRST, and ONLY as a side-benefit get to aggressively and with a strong USP 'play' the risky and ultra-difficult Indian domestic market too. They are making a great beginning, they say, with the plan to (a) assemble the grand Cherokee here and (b) heavily-localizedly manufacture the new Jeep C-Suv/Compass, and presumably (c) have big exports of the all-new FIAT models too, perhaps even back to europe.

Now: I do not know whether they can afford to export assembled and/or localized cars only to rhd+diesel markets, or whether using India as a base even for one or two lhd models makes sense, too. Also, whether FCA India can, as in the case of Alfa Romeo and JEEP, become a major component/sub-assembly exporter for the high-end models and brands.

Depending on the numbers: it MAY make huge sense to assemble and/or localize (mainly for export) other high-value/higher-end vehicles here beyond the GCherokee and the C-Suv/Compass: rhd Alfa Romeos too? Nothing before 2018 or even 2020, of course. After all: if they want to take on the Germans, with the latter's economies of scale and their local assembly plants in China and india etc (behind tariff walls), how else can they truly grow the new Alfa Romeo in Asia-Pacific, Australia, India and the Middle East, given the relative currency situation and the high tariff-walls?

But: initially it is clear that for these very reasons (i.e., tariffs, depreciated currencies etc) Marchionne will be focussing almost exclusively on Europe, first and the US second, with China third+Japan+Australia+MiddleEast, leaving the field in other emrging-markets like India still un-contested for the German trio, who he will, successfully I am sure, target with JEEP instead.

The all-new 2 litre turbo petrol engine (called 'Hurricane' apparently in its American avatars) will come rated at 200bhp as well as 280 bhp.

The somewhat-new 2.2 mjd/jtdm, all aluminium with a rumoured less than 100 g of CO2 emissions (putting it the most attractive taxation bracket in many european countries) will come in power ratings of 150, 180 and 210 bhp. The Alfa version of the 2.2 diesel is a more evolved and more expensive presumably, version of the new 2.2 mjd in the European Jeep Cherokee and the Maserati Ghibli, or so it is said.

The cars will either be manuals or 8-speed ZF automatics (meant as in Maserati or BMWs for rwd applications with longitudinally mounted engines): no dual-clutch-es, since the torque levels are seen to be too high to ensure true durability and reliability.

It would appear that, version for version, the Alfa-s will have the class-best or nearabouts power or power-to-weight ratios with all these engines?

Marchionne's using the Ferrari centrism of F1 racing to brand-build Alfa by dangling the unlikely possibility of Alfa romeo running their own team with their 'own' engine in the F1. Enzo ferrai of course began his career in Alfa Romeo racing, so!

Likelier is a lesser racing championship, but via Marchionne, some free ferrari-rub-off is being accrued for the new Alfa Romeo, whose Giulia QV 3 litre twin turbo V6, is by a distance the best engine of its class (outgunning any from bmw, amg-mercedes, etc of similar capacity), is basically a reworked Ferrari one, rumoured to be standard fare on the upcoming line of 'junior', less exclusively priced Ferrari-s: the DINO (sub)brand. (Dino was enzo ferrari's son who died young and had years ago a few Ferrari-s named after him.)